Editing Muhammad Shah (section)

==Early reign==
=== Removing the Sayyid Brothers ===
{{See also|Sayyid brothers|Battle of Balapur}}[[File:Chitarman II, Emperor Muhammad Shah with Falcon Viewing his Garden at Sunset from a Palanquin ca 1730 Metmuseum.jpg|thumb|left|The Mughal Emperor Muhammad Shah with his [[Falcon]] visits the imperial garden at sunset on a palanquin.]]

On 9 October 1720, Syed Hussain Ali Khan Barha, the commander and chief of the [[Army of the Mughal Empire|Mughal army]], was assassinated in his encampment in [[Todabhim]] and Muhammad Shah took direct command of the army. Asaf Jah I was then dispatched to gain complete control of six Mughal provinces in the [[Deccan Plateau|Deccan]], and [[Muhammad Amin Khan Turani]] was assigned as the [[Mansabdar]] of 8000. He was sent to pursue the Mughal Grand vizier Syed Hassan Ali Khan Barha, who was defeated at the battle of [[Hasanpur]] by Muhammad Amin Turani, [[Khan Dowran VII|Khan-i Dauran]], Sher Afkan Panipati, and Amin-ud-Din Sambhali. Hassan Khan Barha fought on the side opposing Khan-i-Dauran where the most danger was anticipated,<ref>{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=ak5oFjTys8MC&dq=hasanpur+khan+dauran&pg=RA1-PA82 |title= Later Mughal |page= 82 |author= William Irvine |date= 1971 |publisher= Atlantic Publishers & Distri }}</ref>  was captured on 15 November 1720 and executed two years later. The fall of the Sayyid Brothers would mark the beginning of the end of the Mughal Empire's direct control over its dominions in the Deccan.

=== Loss of Deccan ''subahs'' ===
[[File:Emperor Muhammad Shah LACMA AC1997.127.1.jpg|thumb|The Mughal Emperor Muhammad Shah and his family]]
On 21 February 1722, Muhammad Shah appointed the Asaf Jah I as Grand Vizier. He advised Muhammad Shah to be "as cautious as [[Akbar]] and as brave as [[Aurangzeb]]". Asaf Jah used his influence with the emperor to fulfil his territorial ambitions in the Deccan. He lost the emperor's confidence when he appointed Hamid Khan, a relative to [[Saadullah Khan (Mughal Empire)|Saadullah Khan]] and his maternal uncle, to administer Gujarat after having sending him on the pretext of restoring order to the province.<ref>{{cite book |author=Jaswant Lal Mehta |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d1wUgKKzawoC |title=Advanced Study in the History of Modern India 1707–1813 |date=2005 |publisher=New Dawn Press, Incorporated |isbn=9781932705546 |page=145}}</ref> Realising his loss of influence and trust from the emperor, Asaf Jah resigned as Grand Vizier and returned to the Deccan.<ref>{{cite book |author=Ronald Vivian Smith |title=The Delhi that No-one Knows |date=2005 |publisher=DC Publishers |page=60}}</ref>

Asaf Jah I appointed commander Ewaz Khan as the master of the garrison at [[Aurangabad, Maharashtra|Aurangabad]], and much of his logistical duties were carried out by Inayatullah Kashmiri.<ref name="google2">{{cite book |author=Mehta, J.L. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d1wUgKKzawoC |title=Advanced Study in the History of Modern India 1707–1813 |publisher=New Dawn Press, Incorporated |year=2005 |isbn=9781932705546}}</ref> In 1723 he set out on an expedition to the Deccan, where he fought [[Mubariz Khan]], the Mughal [[Subahdar]] of the Deccan, who had kept the ravaging [[Maratha Empire]] at bay. Mubariz Khan was a former ally of the Barha Sayyids, who was appointed by Muhammad Shah to kill Asaf Jah I.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bkRxDwAAQBAJ&dq=muhammad+shah+appointed+mubariz+khan&pg=PA6 |title=A New Look at Modern Indian History (From 1707 to The Modern Times), 32e |date=2018 |publisher=S Chand Limited |isbn=9789352534340 |page=6}}</ref> Taking advantage of Mubariz Khan's conventional weaknesses, Asaf Jah I defeated and eliminated his opponent during the [[Battle of Shakar Kheda]]. Asaf Jah I then established the [[Hyderabad State]] and appointed himself the [[Nizam of Hyderabad]] in 1725. 

The Mughal-Maratha Wars (1728–1763)<ref>{{cite book |author=Tony Jaques |title=Dictionary of Battles and Sieges: A–E |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |year=2007 |isbn=978-0313335372 |series=Dictionary of Battles and Sieges: A Guide to 8,500 Battles from Antiquity Through the Twenty-first Century |volume=1 |page=xxxix}}</ref> would cause irreparable devastation to six Deccan ''[[Subah|subahs]]''–[[Khandesh]], [[Bijapur]], [[Berar Subah|Berar]], [[Aurangabad]], [[Hyderabad Subah|Hyderabad]] and [[Bidar]]. Asaf Jah would the Marathas to invade [[Malwa Subah|Malwa]] and the northern territories of the Mughal empire to protect his newfound independence.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p5VYH7FhoTsC&q=It+is+necessary+to+take+our+hands+off+Malwa.+God+willing,+I+will+enter+into+an+understanding+with+them |title=Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, Poona: Volumes 51–53 |date=1970 |publisher=Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute |page=94 |quote=The Mughal court was hostile to Nizam-ul-Mulk. If it had the power, it would have crushed him. To save himself from the hostile intentions of the Emperor, the Nizam did not interfere with the Maratha activities in Malwa and Gujarat. As revealed in the anecdotes narrated b Lala Mansaram, the Nizam-ul-Mulk considered the Maratha army operating in Malwa and Gujarat as his own}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1BY9AAAAIAAJ&dq=Finally+,+in+the+following+year+,+the+nizam+entered+into+a+secret+agreement+with+the+peshwa+by+which+he+offered+to&pg=PA549 |title=The New Cambridge Modern History |date=1957 |publisher=University Press |page=549}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Shripid Rama Sharma |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h6Y9AAAAMAAJ&q=connived |title=Mughal Empire in India, 1526–1761: Volume 3 |date=1934 |publisher=Karnatak Printing Press}}</ref> The Nizam described the [[Maratha Army|Maratha army]] to be an instrument to be wielded to his own advantage in the ''Maasir-i Nizami'':<ref>{{cite book |author=Richard M. Eaton |title=Expanding Frontiers in South Asian and World History Essays in Honour of John F. Richards |date=2013 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |page=21}}</ref><blockquote>
"I consider all this army (Marathas) as my own and I will get my work done through them. It is necessary to take our hands off Malwa. God willing, I will enter into an understanding with them and entrust the ''Mulukgiri'' (raiding) on that side of the [[Narmada River|Narmada]] to them."
</blockquote>The ears of the Muhammed Shah were possessed by the Amir-ul-Umara, Khan-i Dauran.<ref>{{cite book |author=William Irvine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ak5oFjTys8MC&dq=khan+dauran+ears+muhammad+shah&pg=RA1-PA336 |title=Later Mughals |date=1971 |publisher=Atlantic Publishers & Distri |page=336}}</ref> Muhammad Shah appointed [[Itimad-ad-Daula, Qamar-ud-Din Khan|Qamar-ud-Din Khan]] as Grand Wazir to succeed Asaf Jah. However, he was quickly dismissed in favour of [[Roshan-ud-Daulah|Roshan-ud-Daulah Turrah Baz Khan]], a native of Panipat,<ref>{{cite book |author=V D. Mahajan  |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vDscEAAAQBAJ&dq=raushan+daulah+panipati&pg=PA13 |title=Modern Indian History |date=2020 |publisher=Publisher: S Chand & Company Limited |isbn=9789352836192 |page=13}}</ref> who was appointed the Grand Wazir, in order to reduce the influence of the Turani family.<ref>{{cite book |author=Jagadish Narayan Sarkar |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dohDAAAAYAAJ&q=nizam+nephew+qamaruddin |title=A Study of Eighteenth Century India: Political history, 1707–1761 |date=1976 |publisher=the University of Virginia |page=31}}</ref> 

Despite the loss of the Deccan ''subahs'' in 1724, the [[Nawab of Awadh]] [[Saadat Ali Khan I|Saadat Ali Khan]] and the Mughal ''subahdar'' Dilawar Khan (r. 1726–1756) remained loyal to the emperor and established a well-protected bastion on the [[Malabar Coast]].

===Cultural developments===
[[File:Zaban urdu mualla.png|thumb|The phrase {{transliteration|ur|''Zuban-i Urdū-yi Muʿallá''}} (literally "Language of the exalted [[Golden Horde|Horde]]", contextually the exalted Urdu Language) written in [[Nastaʿlīq script]]]]
[[File:Lashkari Zaban calligraphy prepared.png|thumb|250px|''Lashkari Zabān'' ("military camp language" or "[[Battalion|Battalionese language]]") title in Nastaʿlīq script]]
[[File:Sketch from the book Aasar us Sanadeed, depicting Bagh e Naazir as it appeared in mid-19th century.jpg|thumb|[[Baagh e Naazir]] was built by Muhammad Shah the year 1748.]]

While [[Urdu]] (derived from ''Zuban-i Urdū-yi Muʿallá'' or in local translation ''[[Lashkari language|Lashkari Zaban]]'', shortened to ''Lashkari'') was already in use before Muhammad Shah's reign, it was during his reign that it became more popular among the people and he declared it as the court language, replacing Persian. During Muhammad Shah's reign, [[Qawwali]] was reintroduced into the Mughal imperial court and it quickly spread throughout [[South Asia]]. Muhammad Shah is also known to have introduced religious institutions for education such as [[Maktab (education)|Maktab]]s. During his reign, the [[Quran]] was translated for the first time into simple [[Persian language|Persian]] and [[Urdu]]. Also, during his reign, the formal Turkic dress, normally worn by the high Mughal nobility since Mughals originally hailed from [[Samarqand]], was replaced by the [[Sherwani]]. However, Muhammad Shah's adoption of the Deccan-influenced dress to court would lead to derisive comments, such as "''See how the Deccan monkey dances!''"<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SHgtAAAAMAAJ&q=mahratta |title=Notes on Punjab and Mughal India: Selections from Journal of the Punjab Historical Society |date=1988 |publisher=Sang-e-Meel Publications |page=381}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Ishwari Prasad |title=A New History of India |date=1940 |publisher=Indian Press, Limited |page=334}}</ref>

Mohammad Shah was a patron of the performing arts, almost at the cost of administrative priorities, paving the way for the disintegration of governance. While Mughal political power did decline in his reign, the Emperor encouraged the arts, employing master artists such as Nidha Mal (active 1735–75) and Chitarman, whose vivacious paintings depict scenes of court life, such as [[Holi]] celebrations, hunting and hawking.<ref>[http://sites.asiasociety.org/princesandpainters/decline-of-power-pursuit-of-pleasure-muhammad-shah-1719-1748/ Princes and Painters in Mughal Delhi, 1707–1857], Asia Society exhibition</ref> The Mughal court of the time had musicians such as Naimat Khan, also known as [[Sadarang]], and his nephew Firoz Khan (Adarang), whose compositions popularised the musical form of [[khyal]]. Naimat Khan composed khyal for his disciples and he never performed khyal.<ref name="Misra1991">{{cite book |author=Susheela Misra |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=utw9AAAAMAAJ&q=sadarang+never+performed+khyal |title=Musical Heritage of Lucknow |publisher=Harman Publishing House |year=1991}}</ref> This key component of [[Indian classical music]] evolved, ascended and received princely patronage at the court of Muhammad Shah.<ref>[[iarchive:lifeofmusicinnor00neum|<!-- quote=inauthor:"Daniel M. Neuman". --> The life of music in north India: the organization of an artistic tradition]], Daniel M. Neuman</ref>

He himself was a poet under the penname "Sadrang" and was also a composer of [[Indian classical music|Indian classical]] [[raga]] songs in the [[Bhairav (raga)|bhairav]], [[Kafi (raga)|kafi]], [[Dhamar (music)|dhamar]] and [[malkauns]] genres. These included songs on the themes of love and the festival of [[Holi]].<ref name="sn">[https://sufinama.org/poets/muhammad-shah-rangila/profile Muhammad Shah Rangila]. ''[[Sufinama]]''.</ref>

===Scientific developments===
During the reign of Muhammad Shah, a significant scientific work known as the [[Zij-i Muhammad Shahi]] was completed by [[Jai Singh II of Amber]] between the year 1727 and 1735; it consisted of 400 pages.<ref>{{cite book |last=Pollock |first=Sheldon |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=740AqMUW8WQC&q=zij-i-muhammad+shahi&pg=PA278 |title=Forms of Knowledge in Early Modern Asia: Explorations in the Intellectual History of India and Tibet, 1500–1800 |date= 2011 |publisher=Duke University Press |isbn=978-0822349044 |via=Google Books}}</ref>

=== Bengal and Sikhs raids ===
[[File:Silver Rupee of Mughal emperor Muhammad Shah, struck in Muhammadabad Benaras Mint.jpg|thumb|Silver Rupee issued by Mughal emperor Muhammad Shah for the Bengal Subah, struck in Muhammadabad Benaras Mint.]]
Muhammad Ali Khan the [[Mughal Empire|Mughal]] [[Faujdar]] of [[Rangpur, Bangladesh|Rangpur]] and his stern ally Deena Narayan were ambushed out of [[Cooch Behar State|Koch Bihar]] by Upendra Narayan a [[Hindu]] [[Bihari people|Bihari]] and Mipham Wangpo (r. 1729–1736) the [[Druk Desi|ruler]] of [[Bhutan]]. [[Ali Mohammed Khan]] had established the barons of [[Rohilkhand|Rohilakhand]]. In the [[Subah of Lahore|Punjab region]], the [[Misl|Sikhs]] were at war with local [[Mughals|Mughal]] [[Subahdar|''subahdars'']], devastating them with their hit-and-run tactics.

=== Loss of Gujarat and Malwa ''subahs'' ===
{{Main article|Bajirao I#March to Delhi (1737)|Battle of Bhopal}}

After decisively defeating Asaf Jah in February 1728 at the [[Battle of Palkhed]], [[Bajirao I]] and his brother [[Chimaji Appa]] re-invaded Malwa. The Mughal ''subahdar'' Giridhar Bahadur was defeated and killed at the battle of Amjhera in November 1729.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Singh |first=Raghubir |date=1947 |title=Fresh Light on the Battle of Amjhera: November 29, 1729 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44137163 |journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress |volume=10 |pages=375–386 |jstor=44137163 |issn=2249-1937}}</ref> Chimnaji Appa then unsuccessfully attempted to besiege the remnants of the Mughal army at Ujjain.<ref name="books.google.com.pk">{{cite book |author=Jaques, T. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3amnMPTPP5MC |title=Dictionary of Battles and Sieges: A–E |publisher=Greenwood Press |year=2007 |isbn=9780313335372}}</ref> [[File:Elephants pushing cannons drawn by bullocks.jpg|thumb|[[Elephant]]s pushing [[Mughal artillery]] [[cannon]]s drawn also by bullocks.<ref>{{cite web |title=Elephants pushing cannons drawn by bullocks, Kota |url=http://warfare.uphero.com/Moghul/18thC/Elephants_pushing_cannons_drawn_by_bullocks_Kota-mid-18thC.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141223222411/http://warfare.uphero.com/Moghul/18thC/Elephants_pushing_cannons_drawn_by_bullocks_Kota-mid-18thC.htm |archive-date=23 December 2014 |access-date=24 September 2014}}</ref>]]In 1731, Asaf Jah managed to secure the defections of influential Maratha leaders, such as [[Trimbak Rao Dabhade]] and Sanbhoji who threatened to abandon the Marathas and join the forces with the emperor Muhammad Shah. However, the defectors were overrun and killed by a large Maratha force led by Bajirao I and Chimnaji Appa during [[Battle of Dabhoi]].<ref name="books.google.com.pk" /> Bajirao I then attacked [[Gujarat Subah|Gujarat]] with his full force and drove out Sarbuland Khan by 1735.[[File:Mahout on an elephant; gouache on paper.jpg|thumb|left|An elephant and its mahout in service of the Mughal Emperor Muhammad Shah.]]

Bajirao I defeated a well-trained Mughal army led by Amir Khan Bahadur at Rikabganj. He did not proceed with his victory although he could have taken the city unopposed.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Srinivasan |first=C. K. |url=https://www.google.co.in/books/edition/Baji_Rao_I_the_Great_Peshwa/Z0E_AAAAMAAJ?hl=en |title=Baji Rao I, the Great Peshwa |date=1961 |publisher=Asia Publishing House |pages=104 |language=en}}</ref> He withdrew after receiving intelligence of the advancing forces of Wazir [[Itimad-ad-Daula, Qamar-ud-Din Khan|Qamar-ud-Din Khan]]. Bajirao with his army retreated to the southeast at [[Badshahpur]], where he corresponded with the emperor Muhammad Shah, who ratified peace by agreeing the handover of [[Malwa]] to the [[Maratha Empire|Marathas]].<ref name="books.google.com.pk" />